REVIEW: Saban’s Power Rangers Blu-Ray (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

In 1993, a TV show came on the airwaves that brought superheroes a new face, and from that came a franchise that has since then had so many variants of the original that I have honestly lost count. That franchise that has enthralled millions, including yours truly was the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. After the reboot was released in theaters, it was met with a variety of mixed reviews.

If you haven’t seen the movie yet, and don’t want to be spoiled, I will do the same thing that we do on our specials for Sloppy Spoilers; That is I will do a spoiler free review and then warn you before I spoil this shit out of this movie. Now keep in mind, there has been a review of the movie itself on our sister website, Comic Crusaders which was written by the ever so awesome Garth Cremona, which can be found here.

Now whether you read his review or not, I am also taking the opportunity to give my review here, both of the movie, but the bluray as well. All in all I personally loved the movie. The story of five teenagers, all with attitude learn to come together as a team to save their home. I personally went into this movie with the understanding that it is not the TV show that we all know and love, rather it is taking the main concepts of the original characters, locations and overall theme, and truly giving it a facelift. Power Rangers does introduce the characters of Jason, Kimberly, Zach, Billy and Trini and gives us a little more of their backstory which we never truly got in the show. These teenagers are not the goody goody two shoe kids that we were originally introduced to back in ’93. They come into contact with Power coins that gives them abilities beyond this world and they come to knowledge that they have been chosen as the earths defenders from the evil Rita Repulsa. See, all the themes that we already know from the show.

The movie itself was entertaining, and one that I honestly enjoyed it for what it was. A little slow for an origin movie, but it was something that I was able to overlook. For the BluRay specifically, I thoroughly enjoyed the deleted scenes as it brought to light more nuances that enhanced the experience that much more. The story went in the direction that I figured it would go while still maintaining it’s darker theme and appearance.

Now is the point where if you haven’t seen the movie yet, and don’t want to be spoiled then this is a great stopping point for you. If however you don’t really care, then feel free to continue.

Saban’s Power Rangers brought as I said all the original characters that we know and love. First and foremost, Zordon was a key component for me. Had the producers screwed up on Zordon, I personally would have said screw it I am not watching this. But the producers did not disappoint. For the first time we get to see Zordon in action as the Red Ranger of his team. We see him sacrifice himself to not only protect the Zeo Crystal, but the Power Coins as well.

We also get the backstory of Rita, which according to this cannon, she was the Green Ranger that had gone rogue. Just that one little point brought a whole new light to the story that the show never really touched on, but now it makes sense for when the Green Ranger will come into the story.

When Zordon meets the teenagers, 65 million years later, he’s not the overly optimistic figure that we had known from the giant tube in the Command Center. This new Zordon is well, less than impressed with everyone and their ability to focus on the task at hand. Well no kidding Zordon, they’re teenagers in this day and age. What’d you expect? Either way. The Rangers have to train and become a true team in order to morph into the Power Rangers. That to be honest was one aspect that I wasn’t totally sold on.

While I understand the logic behind it, I would have preferred to see the morphers be used, but that’s me just being picky. The Zords were cool and the movie definitely paid tribute to the original show with the special cameo appearances from both Amy Jo Johnson (Original Pink Ranger) and Jason David Frank (Original Green Ranger). Even the scene with zords running, we get to hear the theme song* that we all love.

*Note: The theme song that was played was not from the TV show, rather it was from the movie that had Ivan Ooze in it.

The other characters that we know also brought the nostalgia back. Goldar, Rita’s loyal friend becomes the main monster, which again was nice because he was one of the first that the rangers fought in the show. Alpha 5, Zordons assistant is absolutely hilarious in this. Now there is where I loved the special features of the Blu-ray. In the extended/deleted scenes, we get to see Alpha (voiced by Bill Hader) ask the rangers a very wide variety of questions, including what a fart is, and why Harambe had to die. Just that alone, sold me on Alpha 5 as he is as a character. The humor that was brought for Alpha 5 really enhanced him as a character, and an aspect of the film that I enjoyed.

The couple of issues that I personally had with the movie; The time that it took and the slow build to the final scene, honestly they could have improved that, and some of the liberties that were taken, that I felt were unnecessary, were not needed to complete the story. Power Rangers has always been a franchise about team work, and this movie definitely delivered that.

All in all, this movie, and the Blu-ray is definitely one that I would recommend for any movie collection. Especially if you were crazy enough to not only like the Power Rangers Turbo movie, but own it too. It’s definitely a movie that I will love to watch over and over again with no shame whatsoever.

About The Author

Growing up, I’m a stereotypical nerd. I love comics, superheroes, video games, you name it I love it. Except tofu, that stuff is just different. Fast forward a few years, Now I’m living my dream where being a “nerd” is cool, and I have the wonderful opportunity to do exactly what I want to do; Read comics, play video games, and show off my passion for geek culture for the world to see and not care what critics may think. Aside from reviewing games, comics, being a member of the Undercover Capes Podcast Network and Geekery Magazine, I love sports of all kinds, and especially following all of my teams from the great state of Colorado. Being random is what I love doing because it why not be random, it makes life interesting. Make sure to also follow me on Twitter for updates on live gaming streams on other shenanigans at @TheRandomeDud3.

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